Xena.

She was in front of me...in a broken state.

Her hair was scattered, her clothes had blood spattered all over, her eyes were drooping, and she leaned against the door way for support.

"Enzo," She whispered brokenly.

No, no, no, no, no.

I must be hallucinating.

She's dead.

As much as it pained for me to believe it, she's dead.

She can't be here.

I slowly raised my hand and caressed her cheeks. She can't be real. I repeated this in my mind several times.

I'm suffering from schizophrenia, aren't I?

I sighed and shook my head. She would vanish any second now.

I was about to close the door when I heard an ear-piercing shriek. I turned around and saw Dante staring at the door in horror, his jaw wide.

"Enzo, bro, I-I thinking I have-have the ability to se-see ghosts," He stuttered poorly, his eyes never leaving the door.

"You can-can...see her?" I whispered, my hands trembling.

He nodded frantically.

She's alive?

No.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

My heart started racing like an airplane accelerating during take-off. My hands shook tremendously. I lifted my gaze to meet hers.

She seems so real.

As if...she was here right now.

This cannot be happening.

No, no, no, it can't.

She's dead.

She died 3 years back.

The doctor himself told us that she died- Wait...she could've bribed him to tell me that. I never saw her dead body. I just believed the doctor blindly.

Fuck.

I was too blinded with her death to actually verify whether she actually died.

She. Is. Here...Alive.

"Xena," My voice came out as a whisper.

I took in her broken and poor state.

What in the world happened to her?

Before I could say or do anything, her eyes shut, and her body went limp.

Before she fell to the ground, I wrapped my arms around her waist and caught her.

"She's alive-"

"Get the doctor!" I cut Dante off desperately, picking up Xena in bridal style and rushing up the stairs to my room.

She looked badly beaten up.

My heart raced at a tremendous speed as I placed her on my bed.

My hands shook furiously as I gazed at Xena.

She's alive.

She's alive.

She's alive.

"Enzo, I called the doctor. He's arriving in 5 minutes!" Dante informed, rushing into my room.

His gaze fell on her, and he stiffened up.

"You can see her, I can as well...so she's alive, right?" He asked with a nervous chuckle.

I nodded hesitantly. "We never saw her dead. The doctor was the one who informed us and we blindly believed him. I was too numb to think properly."

Matteo dashed into room. "Why're you guys howling like-"

He abruptly halted when his gaze fell on Xena.

Matteo's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Did you bribe the people in the morgue to bring back her corpse or what?"

Idiot.

I whacked the back of his head and he groaned.

"Xena is alive," I whispered, trying to believe it myself.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah...no."

"She is alive," I gritted.

I grabbed Matteo's hand and dragged him towards Xena. I gently held her wrist and placed Matteo's finger on it.

His eyes widened once he felt the pulse.

He shrieked like a broken violin before dashing out of the room, down the stairs, and out of my fucking house.

Few minutes later, the doctor arrived.

Alessio, the doctor for my mafia, ran into the room like his life depended on it.

"Dante told me that the Donna of the mafia was in poor condition! I need to help! Where is sh-"

His frantic voice paused as he saw Xena lying unconscious on my bed.

"You can see her, right?" Dante squeaked, pointing at her lying form.

Alessio furrowed his brows. "Obviously I can! You think I'm blind or what?"

"Uh, no, no," Dante shook his head.

"Alright," Alessio cleared his throat, "You both may leave. I'll take it from here."

"No," I growled, "I can't lose her again. You will treat her in front of me."

He sighed. "Don, I know, but trust me. I've been working for you, for your mafia, for 8 years."

Sighing, I realized I could trust him. I nodded and walked out of the room, motioning Dante to follow me.

We walked downstairs to the hall and sat down on the couch, staring into the abyss.

"What are you gonna do now?"

I looked at Dante and shrugged.

"How is she still alive?" He whispered incredulously.

"I don't know, Dante but what matters is that she's alive. Here. With me..."

He sighed. "What are you gonna do once she wakes up and recovers?"

I sighed. "I need to let her go once she recovers. I can not make the same mistake twice."

Dante smiled, happy with my decision.

She's alive...

She's here...

With me...

"Don!"

I peeled my eyes open at the call of Alessio and rushed up the stairs like a headless chicken. I bolted into my room and paused to take deep breaths.

Alessio frowned and sighed looking at me.

"She's in a critical state. Someone has badly beaten her up. She got shot near the abdomen a-"

"What?!" I growled.

She's shot?!

"Let me speak. As I said, she got shot near the abdomen. She has had a lot of blood loss. She needs to stay on bed rest for a week," He paused, "I took out the bullet and examined that, and guess what?"

I shrugged.

"The bullet had the lodernde Flamme symbol engraved on it."

My eyes widened. "lodernde Flamme?" I repeated incredulously.

Alessio nodded.

lodernde Flamme meant the blazing flame in German. That symbol was also known to be the sign of their mafia...which meant only one thing: The German mafia was the reason behind Xena's condition.

Fucking Germans.

I already had a rough past with them, but now, I'm ready to start war.

"Li ammazzo," I gritted, fisting my hands.

(I'll kill them)

How dare they touch her?

And wait, why did she come to my house?

Why was she in Italy?

I needed to wait till she wakes up.

"For how long she needs to rest?" I asked him.

"A month. Not before that," He replied.

I nodded.

"Bene allora," Alessio spoke up, "I'll leave."

(Alright, then)

I nodded and paid the fee to him. Giving me an assuring smile, he left.

I sighed and gazed at her.

I still can't believe she was alive.

3 questions were bothering me from when:

1. How was she alive?

2. Why was she in Italy?

3. If she was in Italy, instead of going far from me, she ended up knocking at my door...why?

I heard a soft groan.

My eyes widened and my face whipped towards Xena.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open.

Her eyes grazed around my-our, room, before landing on me.

"Enzo..."

Well, fuck me.

😭😭